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Wednesday, October 08, 2003
Officials sacked pending prison hostage drama probe
MANILA -- PNP Director-General Hermogenes Ebdane sacked a Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) officer Tuesday and asked its head Eduardo Matillano to go on leave as an investigation was started into the three-hour hostage-taking incident in Camp Crame.
The incident, which caused fresh embarrassment for the much-criticized security forces and to the police, resulted in the death of three policemen and a suspected Abu Sayyaf member early Tuesday morning.
Supt. Rosueto Ricaforte, chief of the CIDG Anti-Organized Crime and Business Concerns Division where the hostage-taking occurred, was allegedly removed from his post amid reports that he allowed Buyungan Bungkak, suspected Abu Sayyaf member, and his fellow inmates to exercise without handcuffs within the CIDG compound.
Chief Supt. Rolando Garcia, director of the PNP investigation and detective management division, would take over from Matillano in a concurrent capacity.
Bungkak was killed in the process of taking several policemen hostage in Camp Crame early Tuesday morning.
A police hostage died of a gunshot wound to the head, while another two officers were killed as they stormed a building where Bungkak was holed up. Three other policemen were also wounded in the firefight.
The drama is the latest security breach at the Camp Crame prison is the latest embarrassment for President Arroyo, who is attending a Southeast Asian summit in Bali, Indonesia, that is focusing on security and trade issues. It also happened with security forces on full alert ahead of the visit of US President George W. Bush on Oct. 18.
Last July, convicted Indonesian Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) bomber Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi escaped from his prison cell while Australian Prime Minister John Howard was visiting the country.
Security officials said the Abu Sayyaf has ties with both the JI and al-Qaeda, the Islamic cell blamed for the deadly attacks on the US on Sept. 11, 2001.
The President, upon learning of the incident immediately ordered the PNP Tuesday to fast track the construction of a maximum-security jail in Camp Crame following the hostage-drama.
Deputy presidential spokesman Ricardo Saludo said the PNP, in response to Arroyo's directive, promised to finish the new maximum-security detention facility by mid-November instead of January 2004.
Interior Sec. Jose Lina Jr. said the PNP and the National Police Commission (Napolcom) will separately investigate the escape attempt of Bungkak, who was on trial for a series of deadly bombings in the southern city of Zamboanga in October 2002 that left 12 dead, including a US soldier.
Meanwhile, lawmakers lambasted the police as incompetent and said the fiasco also reflected problems in the justice system.
Sen. Rodolfo Biazon urged the President to replace the PNP officers with competent ones because the incident has reaped a negative international reputation for the country.
"I think it's about time the President should consider making heads roll, because this incident, coming after the al-Ghozi escape, is indeed the height of picture of incompetence, negligence or even plain stupidity," Biazon added.
He said the President should fire those remiss in their job and replace them with good people who can run the agency competently.
Sen. Ramon Magsaysay, chairman of the Senate committee on national defense and security, said the incident shows that PNP personnel are very sloppy in handling the detainees in Camp Crame.
"PNP officers involved must go back in training particularly in the fundamentals of security," Magsaysay added.
He said that the PNP officials must also review and amend, if needed, the procedures or processes utilized in jail security since this is not the first time that Camp Crame detainee bolted the detention cell.
On the other hand, Sen. Edgardo Angara said the latest event is just a reflection of the national leadership. MS/ST/JM/AFP
(October 8, 2003 issue)
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